News and Announcements
PLAYERS CODE OF CONDUCT
It is the goal of the Litchfield Baseball Association to provide a positive and instructive environment for all participants. As a player the responsibility rests with you to be willing to learn, play hard and be committed to your team for the entire season. You should attend practices regularly and be present at all games. It should be understood that any player that misses a game without notifying his/her coach could be asked to sit out part of the next game. Baseball is a team sport and each player is an important component in the success of the team. Player's adherence to this code will promote fair play, discipline and sportsmanship for the good of the LBA.
As a PLAYER of the Litchfield Baseball Association, I agree to the following Code of Conduct:
- I will have respect for the equipment. When at bat, I will always wear my helmet and will not remove it until I return to the dugout. As a catcher, I will always wear the proper equipment as provided and recommended by the league.
- I will always wear the proper uniform in the proper way.
- I will not allow myself to display anger directed at an opposing player, coach, umpire, teammate or myself. I understand that I will be ejected from the game for this type of behavior.
- I understand that if I intentionally throw my bat, helmet, glove or any piece of equipment that I will be subject to ejection from the game at the discretion of the umpire.
- I will try to be responsible while at bat and not throw my bat unintentionally. If I do, in most cases a warning will be issued. Any subsequent offense will result in an out or ejection at the discretion of the umpire.
- I will play hard but in a safe and responsible manner. I will not intentionally endanger another player in any way.
- I will not use abusive language or participate in any form of trash talk or negative cheering. I will promote sportsmanlike conduct, encouraging my team members to cheer positively and shake hands with the opposing players after each game.
LBA FREQUENTY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ's)
1: How often are games? When are they? How long do they last?
2: What equipment/uniform is needed?
3: Who is responsible for staffing the concession stands?
4: How can I help?
Registration
1: What baseball sessions are offered?
2: Which division will my child play in?
3: Based on my child's skills, can s/he play in a different division?
4: Does my child have to attend a skills evaluation?
5: Can my child be on his friend’s team?
6: What is a skills evaluation session?
7: What's the deal with the Age cutoff?
Safety
1: How many pitches should I allow my child to throw?
Website & Email Notifications
1: Will my child's information be visible on this website?
2: Will team standings and schedules be listed?
3: Why can I not access parts of the website?
4: My email address has changed, who do I contact?
General
1: How often are games? When are they? How long do they last? Top
There is usually one game each Saturday and one during the week. Actual days and times vary due to the schedule of opponents. Weekday games are after school, typically after 5PM.
2: What equipment/uniform is needed? Top
The league provides bats, balls, bases, helmets, and catcher’s gear. The players should have their own glove and should bring their own bat (metal only). The league provides caps and team uniform shirts. All players must provide their own uniform pants, belt, and socks; plastic cleats; and protective cup.
3: Who is responsible for staffing the concession stands? Top
Each team is responsible for providing personnel to work a shift. The team parent is responsible for assigning volunteers to the team's scheduled time slots. The concession revenue is a significant part of our operating income, which subsidizes our registration fees. It is really every families responsibility to work at least one shift per season.
4: How can I help? Top
Our league is completely run by volunteers. Substantial costs (financial and physical) go into the running of every season and maintenance of all of our facilities. Volunteering is a way to help us keep costs down for everyone. The first step is to attend your child’s games and cheer positively for all players and teams. The League needs managers and coaches that can work with the players before and during games. The League also needs an umpires, concessions, field maintenance folks, etc. To volunteer, please send email to: volunteer@litchfieldbaseball.org.
Registration
1: What Baseball sessions are offered? Top
Annually, we offer a Spring and Fall baseball session. Typically, registration for Spring starts in mid-January with the season active from April through the end of June with an All-Star season commencing at the end of July. Our Fall baseball session starts registration in August, starts play in early September and completes by the end of October.
To register for either session, as they become available, register an account at LBA Sports Signup and watch for notices. Parents that register at LBA Sports Signup will also receive important announcements and notifications via email
2: Which division will my child play in? Top
Children play in an "age appropriate" divisional structure - that is, based on the age they will be at on April, 30 of that year. For more information on the age range for each division, see Part 7 of LBA Rules.
3: Based on my child's skills can s/he play in a different division? Top
No, rules do not allow this. In order to keep all divisions competitive we will keep all kids in their "age appropriate" division.
4: Does my child have to attend a skills evaluation? Top
Yes, unless approved by the Board of Directors it is mandatory that your child attend a skills evaluation. Skills evaluations are used to help managers choose teams with as equal a talent distribution as possible.
5: Can my child be on his friend’s team? Top
LBA tries very hard to accommodate players and parents to the best of our ability. As players progress through the divisions (T-Ball, Rookie, Minors, and Majors), it becomes more difficult to meet everyone’s expectations. LBA will try to accommodate parents by keeping siblings together. However, we are unable to accommodate requests to keep friends together, especially in the higher two divisions (Minors and Majors).
6: What is a skills evaluation session? Top
For the Spring session, children in the Minors divisions must attend a tryout session to be drafted onto a team. These sessions for each division last about 2 hours. The tryouts gives the managers within the league an opportunity to evaluate each player prior to the draft. Please check the calendar for tryout dates.
7: What's the deal with the Age cutoff? Top
Your child's League Age is determined by his/her age as of April 30. For example, if your child turns 10 on April 22, 2006 he/she is determined to be the same League Age as a child that turned 10 on May 1, 2005. These guidelines are kept consistent throughout the various national baseball organizations in order to ensure players can move smoothly from one level of play to the next.
Safety
1: How many pitches should I allow my child to throw? Top
Though rules limit pitchers in the Minors to 6 innings per week, the American Sports Medicine Institute recommends that 8-10 year-olds not pitch more than 50 to 60 pitches per game and 11-12 year-olds 20 to 30 pitches more. For more information on this subject, see USA Baseball Medical & Safety Advisory Committee Guidelines: May 2006 by the American Sports Medicine Institute (ASMI).
Website & Email Notifications
1: Will my child's information be visible on this website? Top
At most, only a players first name will be placed on the online team roster. Team roster information will only be visible to registered members of the league. No personally identifiable information will be placed on the website of anyone unless agreed to. Online team rosters are made available at the team manager's discretion.
2: Will team standings and schedules be listed? Top
Team standings will be maintained as they are made available to the Division Coordinators. Team scheduled games and practices may also be maintained on the website at the managers discretion.
3: Why can I not access parts of the website? Top
Our website is hosted by eteamz. Eteamz provides security to the site administrators to protect content from unregistered users. If you cannot access a section of the site, it is because you either have not registered with eteamz or you have not requested access from the LBA website administrator. Please follow the directions on the pages that prevent you access. If you have any other questions or problems with website access, please contact: webmaster@litchfieldbaseball.org.
4: My email address has changed, who do I contact? Top
We now try to do a majority of our communication with our membership via email. All membership information for each family is maintained at our registration website, LBA Sports Signup. If your email address, phone number, any relevant family information changes, please go to this website, login with your username and manage your information. If you do not have an email address or have forgotten it, please follow the directions to request a new one.
LBA LEAGUE RULES
Each year, the league reviews the local rules. Starting in 2010, the league began tracking changes by year. The history at the end of the document includes each change, and brief descriptions of discussion and reasons for the change. Here are the local league rules documents over the past few years:
2013 League Rules, revision 13.1, 5/4/2013
2012 League Rules, revision 12.1, 4/11/2012
2011 League Rules, revision 11.1, 3/20/2011
2010 League Rules, revision 10.1, 4/14/2010
2009 League Rules, revision 8.0, 4/9/2009
